Cheesy delights of a French classic

THE glorious gooey ooze of a ripe Camembert cheese is the key to its distinctive bitter taste. So say French scientists who have unlocked the secrets of a culinary delight so revered that it reputedly inspired Napoleon to kiss the woman who first served it to him.

Sophie Nicklaus and her colleagues at the National Institute for Agronomic Research in Dijon made batches of Camembert, then carefully tested how the bitter taste of the cheeses changed as they ripened over six weeks. They also broke down some cheeses into their fat, protein and water-soluble components, and reconstituted experimental cheeses, some of which were missing one or more of these components.

Nicklaus's team found that the structure of Camembert has a marked influence on how we perceive its flavour. A panel of tasters reported that the bitterness of the cheese increased as it ripened. Nicklaus says that this is probably because ...

To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

To continue reading this article, log in or subscribe to New Scientist